Psychology / Media Art Analysis Essay Example

An analysis of Jacob Epstein s Lucifer.

Introduction

Jacob Epstein s Lucifer is a pure bronze sculpture featuring the eponymous archangel prior to his fall as described in the epic poem Paradise Lost. Housed in Birmingham Art Gallery since 1947, two years after its creation, the sculpture is regarded as one of Epstein s best and most influential.

Epstein was born on 10 November 1880 in New York, of Polish-Jewish parentage. Acclaimed for his adept ability at sculpting, having learned under George Grey Bernard in New York, Epstein s talent gave him the opportunity to study at Acad mie Julian in Paris. After moving to London, Epstein became a founding member of The London Group in 1913, and exhibited mainly at Leicester Galleries for the rest of his career. (Tate.org.uk)

His works would often consist of distorted busts of contemporary figures and occasional illustrations. Frequently Epstein created works based upon Christian mythology, like his 1945 bronze statue Lucifer. Other pieces in Epstein s biblical collection include Jacob And The Angel, Adam, and Lazarus all of which were created at a similar time but using different materials.

(Evelyn Silber and Terry Friedman, 1987)

What are the biblical and Christian references in this piece?

As aforementioned, this depiction of Lucifer is not one based on any bible passage. Biblically, Satan (Hebrew for adversary ) was more of a force or nondescri pt tempter of man.

Only in later Christian literary works such as Paradise Lost and Dante s Inferno was Lucifer, and his history as god s fondest archangel, really given any detail. The former of these two famous works, John Milton s Paradise Lost, is cited as the inspiration for this piece.

Whereas Dante s Inferno shows Satan as a mighty beast trapped in the deepest circle of hell, Paradise Lost depicts Lucifer as a more sympathetic character. Lucifer s role in the story involves his rebellion against God and his determination to corrupt the beings God creates in order to perpetuate evil so that there can be a discernible balance in the world, and as justice for both himself and his fellow fallen angels. Even his initial rebellion was conducted out of a desire to not be subjugated by god, seen by Lucifer as an over-controlling force who should not have authority over an entire independent race such as angels.

This portrayal as a sympathetic character is clearly mirrored in Epstein s piece. The calm yet mournful face, with hands bared and arms outstretched, portrays a being of sympathy and sorrow rather than one of hatred and evil. The scars covering his chest and abdomen seem to indicate that this depiction may be set in the immediate aftermath of his rebellion against God, and were likely caused by his battle with his brother, the archangel Micheal. Perhaps this lends an extra dimension to the sorrow on his face mere moments away from being cast out of heaven at the hands of his own brother. At this point, Lucifer is a soldier, fresh from a battle he started and lost, facing the consequences of his hubris.

Can art be appropriate or inappropriate?

Another way in which we can analyse this piece is without the direct context of Paradise Lost.

Whilst Epstein displayed many themes in his works across the years, he carried one motif throughout his work more heavily than any other: the confrontation of arbitrary acceptability. His works would often challenge what was considered appropriate for public artwork, and ask us to consider if these self-imposed societal boundaries of acceptability were arbitrary in nature. (Jacob Epstein, 1955)

To this end, many of Epstein s works included nudity, gross deformity, and absurd proportions interwoven with traditionally acceptable subject matter such as children, Christian mythology, or contemporary figures. This shock art was meant to be confronting, encouraging the viewer to question if and why it makes them uncomfortable.

His other aforementioned biblical pieces, Jacob And The Angel, Adam, and Lazarus, all contained these contemporarily inappropriate techniques. The inclusion of deformity and bulbous proportions in these works is most fascinating, as the Lucifer piece displays neither of these facets. Instead, Epstein made the active choice to make Lucifer, the antagonist of the entire Christian religion, a perfect androgynous otherworldly beauty. Likely to further his desire to shock the audience. In this regard, one of Lucifer s most interesting facets as a piece of art is in fact a meta-commentary that requires the context of Epstein s other biblical pieces.

Epstein himself was born in the United States, moved to Europe in 1902, and became a British Subject in 1911. Perhaps this move to Britain, where he unveiled most of his pieces, further accentuated his desire to push boundaries with Britain s history of conservative views upon what is considered contemporarily appropriate.

How has this piece impacted art history? And, moreover, how have its themes aged or been further explored?

Lucifer, from the moment of its unveiling in 1945, went on to become regarded as one of Epstein s greatest creations perfectly encapsulating several concepts that became central to modernist sculpture. With this and his other works, Epstein inspired a generation of artists and modern sculptures with his use direct carving, truth-to-material, and inspiration from primitive art.

Moreover, the themes of artistic acceptability and boundary pushing shown in Lucifer, and indeed in all of Epstein s work, contributed to a general ethos of artistic and social progress prevalent throughout the 1900 s. Many artists even today use their art to push boundaries and question what we qualify as poor taste .

Over the last century of art and creativity, this theme of pushing the boundaries of taste has been explored possibly more than any other era in art history. Epstein did this with sculpture in the 40 s. The music of Elvis Presley was seen as wildly inappropriate and provocative for his time.

In the 70 s, Monty Python questioned our collective taste using comedy just as punk rock began to grip a generation by exploring hitherto uncharted areas of social acceptability. The 80 s brought an era of gender-bending art in many forms the music and fashion of Bowie, Lennox, and Sylvian making us examine and reject rigid gender roles.

All of these creators have asked us to question whether art has an intrinsic boundary of decorum that should not be pushed, or if art has an inherent need to push the boundaries of acceptability often for the progress of society as a whole. With each passing decade we slowly shed the hang-ups and decorum of the age prior linking art inextricably to social progress.

So to conclude, Jacob Epstein s Lucifer has an immeasurable historical and artistic value. It s influence upon an entire generation of modern sculptures is well recorded, and its biblical epic roots add a dimension of ethereal beauty to the piece that few could hope to match. However, in my opinion, Lucifer s contribution to the boundary pushing artistic climate of the 20th century is its most valuable. The piece acts as a microcosm for contemporary taste at the time, as its primary goal was to challenge these notions of appropriateness in art. Its contribution to that ethos is clear, having an influence capable of permeating seven and a half decades of culture.

References

Horlock, M. (1997) Sir Jacob Epstein

1880 1959. London. Tate Modern Gallery.

Milton, J. 1608-1674 (2000). Paradise lost. London/New York. Penguin Books

Dante, A. 1265-1321 (1935). The divine comedy of Dante Alighieri : Inferno, Purgatory, Paradise. New York. The un ion Library Association.

Epstein, J. (1955) Epstein: An Autobiography. London, Hulton Press.

Silber, E. (1986) The Sculpture of Jacob Epstein with a Complete Catalogue. Oxford, Bucknell Univ Pr.

Silber, E. Friedman, T. (1987) Jacob Epstein: Sculpture and Drawings, exhibition catalogue, Leeds City Art Galleries and Whitechapel Art Gallery.

Leeds Leeds City Art Galleries, Henry Moore Centre for the Study of Sculpture